Blog

7 Resume Tips That Will Get You A Job

Your resume is the first thing that employers and the hiring department see. They don’t see you, and what you’re capable of. Consider your resume as an advertisement. If the ad is good, people will take a second look, but if it’s boring and plain, then your product (which is you in this case), will never get sold.

Do remember that the HR department comes across hundreds of resumes in a day, and chances are they are quick to spot recurring patterns and phrases that look as if they were copied from some standard format.

Also, an impressive resume of another can immediately make yours pale in comparison, so it’s best to do as much tweaks as you can to improve the way your resume looks. Below are some tips to make your resume so much better.

Make A Unique Resume Per Job

This may sound time consuming and hassling, but there are many benefits towards making a unique resume per job that you apply to.

First of all, your resume can have a personalized touch and will make the employer feel that you are really interested in getting hired in that particular company, and not just getting hired in general.

Second, it will give you an edge over other resumes that don’t even mention the name of the company or its vision in their resumes. Making a unique resume will prevent your application from generalization. Be sure to restate your job objective, and emphasize which skills, awards, education, and professional associations are relevant towards that job.

Spell Check

This is probably one of the easiest things that you can do to immediately improve your resume. Human resources personnel are immediately turned off by misspelled words and wrong grammar because it means that the applicant didn’t even spend time to make sure everything was in place. It also displays carelessness and lack of attention to detail, both of which count against you even before you’ve had an interview. Sometimes computer spell-check programs can’t detect all the errors, so it’s pertinent to review your resume yourself before handing it over. For a fresh perspective, you can have a friend look over it too.

Simplify your Language

For easy reading, it’s best to keep sentences short and not to worry about fragments. Leave out personal pronouns such as “I”, “my”, and “me”. Putting down “I performed” or “I achieved” is considered to be redundant since it is already understood that the resume talks about yourself. Articles such as “a”, “an” and “the” can also be omitted. And instead of using passive words, active verbs are more effective. By all means avoid what I call “team” terms. People want to know who “you” contributed to the team. I can’t stand when I see a resume full of “we’s”.

Use Reverse Chronological Order

Be sure to organize your resume to reflect the most recent job that you had and always include the date of employment. Employers usually prefer this type of order than functional resumes that can make it difficult to determine when you last worked where. The functional type of resume is better for those who are switching career paths.

Separate Tasks from Achievements

It is always best to separate your list of tasks from the column where your achievements can be found. Doing so can highlight all the good things that you have done in college, or at the last company where you were employed. If you used bullet form for the job description, put the tasks in a paragraph form, then save the bullet form for your accomplishments. This makes your achievements stand out among the rest and immediately make your resume look impressive. If the employer only has a few minutes to skim your resume, make it easy for him to find you accomplishments rather than having to search for them in a forest of words.

Keep the Format Simple

This is also standard operating procedure when presenting a resume. It should always use a clear and readable font that is neither too small nor too large. Avoid fancy fonts and sizes, it will only make your application look unprofessional. Recommended fonts are Times New Roman, Verdana, Tahoma, or Arial. Also avoid using different colors, icons, pictures or graphics of any kind. A page border is acceptable as long as it looks clean and works to emphasize the page.

Outsource it!

Finally, one of the things that you can do to ensure a killer resume is by hiring a professional resume critique. Check at the career center in college or with a job placement center. Career counselors can help detect confusing areas and gaps in your application. They may also be able to offer better wordings and phrases that can make your resume easier to read through. Remember, a resume is a preview of you, so it’s highly important to make it as impressive and straight to the point as possible. Leave a comment sharing your resume tips

Author: Dominique Brown

Dominique Brown is a husband, father, financial planner, author of the book "How to Fix your Credit," author of www.yourfinancessimplified.com, owner of S&D Capital Holdings and a landlord. Mr. Brown's advice can be found on the Huffington Post, Business Insider, Yahoo, Madame Noir, HR Block and Ebony Magazine. He holds a bachelor's degree from George Mason University in IT Security. He wanted to be a computer scientist at one point in his life. However, when his mother faced financial disaster after a divorce he switched his focus to financial planning to ensure that his family will have financial independence and generational wealth. His hobbies include posting too much on Facebook, daily pictures with his daughter on Instagram, creating hilarious recaps of trashy reality TV shows, playing too much and wearing suits.

0 comments

Nice list of simple tips that really will help. A resume is designed to get you an interview, so it is important to make a good impression and present a well laid out and concise account of your experience.

I can't think of anymore to add. You have covered it well. Just curious…what is your opinion on personal information in a resume (marital status, interests, hobbies, etc.)? It has been a long time since I put together a resume and I don't know the current protocol on this issue.

I do not believe personal information should be in a resume. The reason is because, those things hardly ever help you get a job. The only thing I might consider is a hobby and that is if you can tie it back to the job to demonstrate how well your are equipped to perform the task. If I was to interview tomorrow I would mention by blog and my real estate activities. Those two jobs allow me to demonstrate real world communication skills and project management skills. In essence, you always have to tie it back to the job.

Your resume is the first thing that employers and the hiring department see. They don’t see you, and what you’re capable of. Consider your resume as an advertisement. If the ad is good, people will take a second look, but if it’s boring and plain, then…

You can also run over to the library (I can't believe I said that) or bookstore and check out some of the resume guide books for examples and tips. This way, you can see some layouts and decide what you think will work best.

There are also some free resources if you are a college student, and even the local employment agencies may provide free assistance, it just takes a little time to call around to check.

I'm trying to be a little more open to the idea of frugality (but still dumping on cheap people though) in the new year. Plus, with Borders gone already and B&N supposedly having trouble the library might be the only way to get info on the spot if you don't have a kindle or iPad app for it.

I love your advice on keeping it simple. When I'd hire an assistant or intern I'd get some convoluted resumes to read. If I can't understand what you're work history is, or you've used a weird font that I don't really like, you aren't getting a j.o.b.

Funny. I don't know. I always looked at the resume more as a filter than something that would "wow" me. I like the face-to-face interview best. I get to look someone in the eyes and determine how we'd work together. More fun.

Face to Face interviews seal the deal. I figure if I can make it too that stage I'm guaranteed a job offer. It may not be for my salary requirements but I do a damn good job of setting myself apart from other candidates.

Great tips for building a better resume. I think one of the most important things I discovered was tip #1 to make a unique resume per job. I did one for my financial background and one for my technical background. It was a great way to emphasize my skills based on the job I was applying for.

Read the job description thhurogoly. Make a list of the qualities they ask for such as team player (yuk!) or confidentiality or whatever their “buz” words are.Prepare your answers to common questions like:What is your best quality or your worst??What would your co-workers say about you?What problem did you have with a coworker and how did you resolve it?How do you prefer your supervisor to communicate with you?You can find these common questions on the internet somewhere. Type out examples of things you have done or happened.Then incorporate these “buz” words from the job description into these answers, i.e., “I am a great team player” and helped a coworker with this problem .Use their words and match their job description.

Highlighting your accomplishments makes a big difference. I review resumes all day and I can't tell you how many of them look like a grocery list of duties rather than highlighting accomplishments that sets them apart from the competition.

I also agree that outsourcing is a great idea!Sometimes, having a professional write a resume is far more effective than attempting to write your own. Most resume writers offer a free resume critique and even if you don't want to proceed with their services, they'll at least give great feedback in terms of how a resume can be improved.

I always say that a resume is not a list of duties, it's a marketing document

If we compare, a jobseeker writing their own resume and a resume written by a professional resume writing expert would any time prove better. But Before sending that well-written resume to a recruiter, can a job seeker figure-out in advance whether that resume will be read by hiring managers? But the tips shared by you if practiced by any job seeker would help them to write a good resume.We all should share such information and guidance, so that the needy ones can be benefited from those tips.